Cell phones and other mobile devices offer a variety of mechanisms for accessing remote content. Such devices commonly include Internet browser applications that allow a user to search for and access Internet content. However, this Internet content search and access process can be time consuming since, in many cases, a user is required to search for content or navigate through multiple web pages and there may be latency involved in the connection between the device and the network. In addition, the content is not available when the mobile device is offline; unable to access the Internet. Some devices include applications that retrieve and cache content for a user so that the user does not need to wait for content to download from a remote source and can access the content even when the device is offline.
Adobe® Flash® Cast™ technology is an offline portal that delivers content as an engaging multimedia experience through Flash® mobile applications called channels. Among other things, it facilitates a subscription form of receiving data for one or more channels on a mobile device. A user can subscribe to a channel using a channel browser that lists the channels available to the device, and can access cached content for subscribed-to channels. To facilitate access of such content, the subscribed-to channels may be presented to a user in a channel lineup on a now-playing screen in which the user is able to preview what is playing on the subscribed-to channels and navigate to and select a particular channel in order to then enjoy the channel's multimedia experience. For example, a news channel may allow a user to navigate through and select from a series of news items that have been previously cached to the mobile device from remote servers; each news item including a thumbnail image, a headline, and a related news story. Upon selection of a news item, the corresponding full body text may be shown. Channels can provide static information and/or interactive content, including content having game, messaging, web interface, and a variety of other components.